The thoughts and musings of Larry Snyder – a disciple of Jesus Christ attempting to live all of life Coram Deo ("before the face of God").

Archive for January, 2016

I had the privilege this morning of preaching on John 12:12-19. Here is a summary of my sermon in one sentence: Jesus presented Himself as King which fulfilled prophecy, destroyed false views others had of Him – all of which demands a response.

This morning, I had the privilege of preaching on Romans 6:1-4 in connection with two young men I had the honor of baptizing. Here is a summary of my sermon in one sentence: Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ cannot continue a life of sin because of their union with Christ, which is represented by the symbolism of baptism, and therefore are to live new lives.

Gender identity is in the news quite a bit today and, as Christians, we need to think clearly about it. Kenneth Gentry has dealt with the question of what the Bible says about it in a brief, informative article.

Gender Identity is the latest rage among postmodernists. Especially since the June 2015 transformation of Bruce Jenner from a male to the female Caitlyn Jenner, transgender discussions have exploded on the scene. And many Christian leaders and laymen have gotten on the politically-correct bandwagon. But what does the Bible have to say about this phenomenon? Much, in every way.

Why do some people succeed and others do not? Most of the time, we think that those who succeed have worked harder and longer than everyone else – they have passion and drive and let no obstacle stand in their way. But is that the truth? Is there more involved in success than we think?

Malcolm Gladwell is convinced that there is a lot more than hard work and drive involved in success. His book Outliers is subtitled The Story of Success. Gladwell shows that successful people have built-in advantages (such as being born early in the year or being born in a certain year rather than three years later) that have to be considered. Hard work and drive are part of the equation, no doubt about it, but other factors are involved, too.

Like all of Gladwell’s books, Outliers is put together in a series of stories, or case-studies, that all make the same basic point. He highlights junior hockey teams, Bill Gates, Korean airline pilots, two extended families in rural Kentucky, and a number of others.

I had the privilege this morning of preaching on John 12:1-11. The following is a summary of my sermon in one sentence: Devotion to Jesus is costly, humbling, unconcerned with what others think, and pleasing to Him.

All biblical doctrine is important. I would go so far as to say all biblical doctrine is essential. It’s difficult to put any doctrine into a second or third tier, because it somehow feels as if to do so is to say it’s not important. But employing theological triage doesn’t mean that everything that’s not first-order is unimportant, any more than a doctor’s prioritizing a gunshot wound necessarily thinks a sprained ankle is unimportant. But the fact remains: genuine Christians can disagree on things like the mode and recipients of baptism; but if two people disagree on the triunity of God, one is a Christian and the other isn’t.

Posted at The Cripplegateblog, this rather long (but well worth it) piece does a great job of explaining the difference and why it’s important. Today’s church is awash in both, so we need to know the difference.

This morning I had the privilege of preaching on John 11:45-57. What follows is a summary of my sermon in one sentence: Don’t ruin your life by being hostile to Jesus, or being simply a curious onlooker – gain it by believing in Him!